LOS ANGELES – Jurors Friday awarded a retired Los Angeles police captain $10.1 million in her discrimination/retaliation suit against the city in a verdict that comes a year after another jury granted her husband, also a sworn LAPD member, more than $4 million in his separate suit against the department.
The Los Angeles Superior Court panel found in favor of former Capt. Stacey Vince, who was a lieutenant in the detective bureau when a new deputy chief, Kris Pitcher, became her direct supervisor in 2019 and eventually began shunning her, her suit stated.
Vince’s husband, LAPD Lt. Lou Vince, also an LAPD employee, had previously worked under Pitcher at Operations Valley Bureau and suffered retaliation and discrimination on account of a physical disability, Lou Vince alleged in his lawsuit.
When Lou Vince complained, the LAPD command staff threatened him that his wife’s career would be adversely affected, his suit stated. Stacey Vince reported the retaliation against her husband, including the allegations against Pitcher, according to her suit.
In 2022, another jury heard trial of Lou Vince’s claims and awarded him $4.37 million for his retaliation and discrimination claims.
In addition to reporting and opposing the department’s alleged discrimination and retaliation against her husband, Stacey Vince was a witness in an internal affairs proceeding concerning her husband’s claims, according to her court papers. She also complained about what she believed to be disparate treatment of her while was she was assigned to the detective bureau, her court papers stated.
“As a result of her protected activity, plaintiff was retaliated against in multiple ways, including … being administratively transferred out of the detective bureau against her will,” Stacey Vince’s court papers stated.
Stacey Vince’s discrimination claim was based upon her association with her husband and his disability claims, according to her court papers.
Stacey Vince, who was promoted to captain in November, says she chose to retire rather than accept a transfer to a less prestigious position.